Reflections from Peter Lord, COO

It’s just over two months into my new role at Hill Labs and a good opportunity to provide an update. I have a strong personal alignment with Hill Lab’s values, and they provide a good framework from which I can reflect on what I’ve seen and learned. 

One of those values is People & Environment (we care about our people and strive for environmental responsibility). It’s the people that have impressed me the most at Hill Labs. Not just individual’s technical knowledge and understanding of our customers, but also the collective effort to make Hill Labs a great place to work. We do this by caring and supporting our hoa mahi (work mates), making this a place we enjoy coming to each day, and hopefully leaving each day with a sense of achievement. 

I had the privilege of attending the recent Waikato BFEA awards and presenting the Hill Labs Agri-Science Award. The finalists and partners of these environmental awards demonstrated their taha whenua (connection to land and environment) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship). During the awards evening, I spoke to a few farmers and crop growers, and I was impressed when they explained how Hill Labs is a partner for their environmental responsibility. 

More recently, I visited customers in the Marlborough region to better understand their current and future environmental needs. The wine industry is going through a challenging period, but is steadfast in the belief that investing in environmental wellbeing is good for the world and good business. Hill Labs supports the wine industry in the sustainable use of water, soil and plants. 

Another of Hill’s values is Innovation and Agility (we are responsive to the needs of our customers). I’ve seen this in action across all the labs from small initiatives like staying open into the early evening at our Auckland lab to accommodate customers struggling through traffic with urgent samples. In response to customer needs we have new testing capability launching soon – more details to follow.